


What did you bury, before those hands pulled me from the earth?

by Wholicity



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Episode: s03e09 The Climb, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 13:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2774906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wholicity/pseuds/Wholicity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity deals with the aftermath of Oliver's death and his homecoming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What did you bury, before those hands pulled me from the earth?

**Author's Note:**

> (Inspired by lindsay-a-kellner's prompt on Tumblr.)  
> Title from Hozier's Like Real People Do.

Felicity lost it. Of course she did. She had given every piece of herself to Oliver. And now, he was gone.  
When Nyssa had arrived unexpectedly in the lair and delivered the news with something similar to guilt in her eyes, she had fallen to the floor. Her legs could not hold her. Her tears could not be contained, but words had left her. 

She had nightmares. Oliver bleeding, Oliver taking his last breath, Oliver being buried, Oliver drowning, Oliver falling, Oliver crying. But it was the happy dreams that haunted her, the ones where she and Oliver were together, where they were both content. The ones that came with memories of his lips on hers and his hand on her shoulder. Him telling her he loved her before he left. Those were the worst. She’d wake up feeling broken, lost, like a piece of her was missing. She felt hollow. She’d get up, shower, brush her hair, put on her makeup, her glasses, her heels, get out the door, go to work. It’d become a numbing routine, but she welcomed it. Feeling nothing was better than feeling everything.  
Felicity was not a weak woman. It had taken her a while to realize this, but she did. She stopped crying after the first two weeks. She would not. Oliver wouldn’t want her to. 

After three months, she wasn’t able to recall details. His face, his body, his smell, his voice, they got blurry. Maybe it was for the better.  
When Oliver came home, she cried. 

All of the emotions she had suppressed hit her like a tidal wave. 

He caught her when her knees gave out. 

He stayed with her all night. He didn’t let go of her. She needed to know he was here. In the flesh. He needed to know she would be okay. And he would too.


End file.
